Former Tennessee Vols player reportedly took less money to transfer to Colorado

Former Tennessee Vols linebacker Martavius French announced on Sunday that he's transferring to Colorado after spending the last three seasons at UTSA.  French, a former three-star recruit who signed with the Vols during the 2020 recruiting cycle, left Tennessee ahead of the 2021 season. He played at Hutchinson Community College in 2021 before landing at […]

Zach Ragan Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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Former Tennessee Vols linebacker Martavius French announced on Sunday that he's transferring to Colorado after spending the last three seasons at UTSA. 

French, a former three-star recruit who signed with the Vols during the 2020 recruiting cycle, left Tennessee ahead of the 2021 season. He played at Hutchinson Community College in 2021 before landing at UTSA (French returned to Neyland Stadium in 2023 when UTSA traveled to Knoxville to play Tennessee). 

According to On3's Steve Wiltfong, other programs, such as North Carolina and West Virginia, were also interested in French. 

French's agent told Wiltfong that the former Vol actually took less NIL money to transfer to Colorado. 

“WVU and UNC made a big push for him but he loves Deion and actually took less money to go there than some of the other offers,” said French’s agent Austin Pfenninger to On3.

French is coming off a terrific 2024 season at UTSA. The Memphis native totaled 80 tackles and 17 tackles for loss last season. He has another year of eligibility thanks to the recent NCAA waiver that grants an additional year of eligibility to former junior college transfers. 

Former Vols quarterback Kaidon Salter, who was briefly teammates with French at Tennessee, will join French in Boulder. Salter transferred from Liberty to Colorado last month.